"Reduced To This"
By Angel Sentier and Lady Parsley
Chapter Six
Ginger looked out of the nearby window again, but the night still looked clear. She sighed, annoyed, sure it was going to be snowing, despite their airid location. Because Princess and Staci had managed to find suitable escorts for the evening, although Ginger wouldn't have touched them with an ugly stick, and she was still stuck at the bar on her own. Unheard of!
She glanced at her watch, and shook her head. It was approaching a very tacky hour to be alone at a bar, and she couldn't pretend to be waiting for someone, that just screamed 'Tessa.' That did it, time to call in reinforcements, before any more creepy guys tried to send her a drink.
Reaching into her reticule, she pulled out a gold cigarette case and opened it. But instead of cigarettes, it held an arsenal of business cards. She looked at the first one, which only had a number printed on a plain white card and brought with it the memory of the last time she'd been alone at a bar. The blond guy...Hector. As she recalled, he was rather cute. He'll do, she decided, and dialed the number on her cell phone.
"I knew you'd call," Hector's voice growled through the receiver.
"Sure you did," she answered with a smirk. "Up for a drink?"
"Depends," he said. "Who's buying?"
"You are. But you can drink it with me. I think that's a fair trade." On the other end of the phone he laughed, but there was no mirth in it and it made her smile. It wasn't often she met someone who knew how to play the 'cat and mouse' game as well as she did. She mentioned the name of the bar, adding "You coming or not?"
He paused for a moment, as though considering, which irked her a little, but he responded, "I'll be there."
-----------------------------------------
Ginger only had to wait about fifteen minutes before Hector showed, sporting a leather jacket over a plain shirt and pants, definitely not what she was used to, but not a detriment to his looks, she decided. He spotted her nearly at once and smirked lightly, beginning to meander over, very sure of himself. She almost laughed. In her experience, that sort of cockiness was a trademark of someone who was just dying to follow orders.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," he said.
"You don't sound sorry."
He shrugged. "I'm not, really." He turned to the bartender and ordered a Guinness without waiting for the man to ask him what he wanted then took a seat on the barstool next to Ginger's.
"You're kidding," she asked, incredulous. "Beer? What are you, a frat boy?"
"One, frat boys can't afford Guinness. Two, it's not beer. And three, we can't all drink Cosmos rimmed in pink sugar and hold our heads up high, your majesty."
She raised an eyebrow. "I kind of like that. You can call me 'your majesty' all night."
He laughed, shortly and again without mirth. "Not likely." He took his drink, the sleeve of his jacket inching up a little. It was only for a moment, but Ginger knew the sight of blood very well.
"You have blood on your wrist, by the way," she said.
"Don't worry, it's not mine," he said, taking a long drink.
"Did I sound worried? My mistake. There's also some in your hair. You might want to consider taking a shower, instead of just washing your hands in a gas station bathroom after your 'business affairs,'" she said sweetly, making little quote marks in the air with her fingers. He was staring at her, the drink forgotten in his hand, as if to say 'what do you know?' She rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. Relax. When you've swam with the sharks for as long as I have, you're not afraid of a tiny little barracuda. I'm not going to tell anybody your dark, dirty little secrets… Whatever they are."
"Well," he said, setting the glass aside. "I was just going to have a drink and take off, but now I'm intrigued."
"Oh, now I intrigue you?" she asked. "So glad I could serve as your amusement! I've got news for you… You're here at my behest. My amusement. Got that?"
"I don't know who the hell you think you are--"
"I'm bored. Why else would I have called you? Last I checked, you were the one who said a beautiful woman might find herself in need of a guy like you. Well… I'm in need. What are you going to do about it?"
He looked at her for a moment, a strange light in his eyes, which was odd because the bar was dim. One of his hands reached for her, and his fingers slid through her red hair at the back of her neck, tightening he pulled her towards him. His mouth neared her ear and she heard him growl back in his throat.
"Down boy," she whispered to him. To emphasize, her hand quickly reached between his legs, digging her nails lightly but firmly into his lower appendages. He inhaled sharply, but didn't move otherwise. She had expected him to let go… "Interesting." She smiled, but knew he'd still be the first to release if she just--
An annoying chirping interrupted that chain of thought and Hector growled in frustration, letting go of Ginger's hair and reaching into his shirt pocket to produce his cell phone. To her further outrage, he turned his back to her to answer it. She couldn't hear much of the conversation, but she was able to tell that it was definitely a woman on the other end of the phone. As if another woman could be more important than her!
"Damn it, Abby, if he can't take care of the problem, I'll do it myself!" He hung up and turned back to Ginger, his expression very dark. It was an expression she knew well… She frequently used it while thinking about what to do with Snowden. "Something's come up. I have to go," he said.
Her eyes narrowed. "I'm not done with you yet," she said in a low voice.
"Apparently, my business isn't finished."
"I'm your business right now."
"Call it a… family emergency then."
"If you were one of my employees, I'd make you take a vacation day."
"Well, I'm not. So deal with it."
"No, you're not… Yet."
"This isn't the time or the place to discuss business."
"I quite agree. Business should be left for the office." She produced a card. "Meet me at mine at ten."
"I'm in bed at ten."
"In the morning?"
"In the morning."
She sighed. "Fine. When's this family emergency expected to be dealt with?"
He shrugged. "Maybe by four this morning."
"Then meet me at five. My secretary isn't due in until six. Don't keep me waiting."
-------------------------------------
Ginger rapped her nails rhythmically against her desk top. "Five in the morning is an ungodly hour to be in an empty office building," she decided, having started talking to herself about ten minutes ago. She looked at the clock on the wall which was steadily ticking toward 5:15. "I told him not to keep me waiting," she said, growing more annoyed as the second hand moved onward. "Why then have I been waiting for fifteen minutes? He needs to learn manners. That's good to know. Why do I care? Am I really that bored?" She considered for a moment. "Maybe I am… Phillip will soon be acquired… Danny is just too easy… But this one… This one will be fun to break. A challenge, of sorts. Only, how to do it… I don't have much in the way of equipment here…" She closed her eyes for a few seconds, then reached down and opened the bottom drawer of her desk. A crystal carafe of deep red wine and a glass lay waiting for her. "That should do the trick."
The door at the other end of the room opened, and she quickly closed the drawer, looking up. Her eyes widened at the sight of him… Someone had beat him up rather viciously. With absolutely no finesse, either. "You look… less than stellar," she said, dryly. With half a smirk, she added "How was she?"
"Unimpressive and unimportant," he muttered, favoring his left shoulder with his right hand.
"You let unimpressive and unimportant people beat the shit out of you?" She gave him a small half-smile. "That will change."
Hector came closer and sat down in the chair across from the desk, obviously not in the mood or the shape to continue their previous game. "This is your office. This is your office building. You come here to discuss business. What business do we have?"
She waited for a moment, considering. "Do you like wine, Hector?"
"At five in the morning?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"This is your bedtime, isn't it? Consider it a nightcap." She opened the drawer and produced the wine and the glass, pouring him a generous amount. She came around to the other side of the desk, sitting on top of it and crossing her long legs in front of him as she handed him the drink. "Your health."
He downed it immediately, all at once, surprising her yet again. That should have caused an instant effect, she thought, but he was still looking at her, perfectly lucid. What kind of-- But as she thought it, his head began to sway and the glass fell from his grip as his eyes rolled back in his head slightly. There it is, she thought with satisfaction.
He blinked his eyes and shook his head, placing one hand to his temple. "What was that?" he asked, obviously unused to the reaction.
"What? Can't you handle it?" she asked, sarcastically.
She watched as the firey light entered his eyes, the same glassy, almost frantic look that she'd seen in Danny so many times, but there was something else too… Before she could react, he'd sprung from his chair, his injuries forgotten due to the effects in the wine, and pinned her on her back to her desk.
Ginger only gave him a dark smile. "Oh, no no…" she said. "This won't do."
-----------------------------------------
"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit in a teaspoon!" Chloe exclaimed in an undertone as she rushed into the office, borrowing one of Tessa's favorite sayings. Running into Jeff had made her even later than she was already. She plunked her purse on the desk and began turning on the computer. She pushed the flashing button on the office's answering machine.
Chloe, this is Danny. I'm really sorry, but tell Ginger I'm sick. I'm not coming in today. I'll owe you lunch, okay? And dinner. See you tomorrow.
Chloe's eyes widened to twice their normal size. Danny, calling in? That was unheard of. Ginger was NOT going to like this… But at least she had a few hours to come up with an excuse. "Thank God they're never here on time--"
"CHLOE!"
Fuck. Chloe turned to look at the door to Ginger's office. The one day, the ONE day she comes in on time...
Only Ginger's head and one bare shoulder was visible to Chloe through the partially open door, but the look on her face was still enough to terrify. "You're late," she said, unnecessarily. "Forty-eight minutes late, to be exact."
"I'm really sorry," said Chloe, already knowing it was useless. "I had to pick up Princess…"
"Are you Princess' secretary? No, you're MINE, Chloe! And I pay MY secretary to be here on time!"
"I'll try not to let it happen again…"
"You're damn right you won't. Go and get me my coffee, then go to my town house and get me my emerald Chanel suit and matching Jimmy Choo shoes. And take off those clod hoppers you wear before you go in, I don't want any filth on my floor!"
------------------------------
Ginger closed the office door and turned back to her desk chair, where Hector was nicely trussed up in extension cords from the supply closet. "Now…" she said with a smile as she sauntered back to him, totally naked. "Who do you want?"
To be continued…
Author's Note: WE ARE SO SORRY FOR BEING NEGLIGENT! Unfortunately, life happened and kind of, well… devoured our writing time. But we promise that we're back and will be bringing you more regular updates from now on! Thank you to everyone who didn't give up on us and waited patiently for the next chapter! Much love to all of you.
--Angel and Parsley--